Monday, August 15, 2005

HNTB is lead consultant for Trans-Texas Corridor

Texas roadwork propels firm

HNTB adding space, employees

Related Link: Ex-General Barry R. McCaffrey, now Chairman of HNTB Federal Services Corporation, pushes Trans-Texas Corridor


8/15/05

Giselle Greenwood
Austin Business Journal Staff
Copyright 2005

When Gov. Rick Perry announced the Trans-Texas Corridor highway project in 2002, engineering firms across Texas perked up. Thanks to projects such as that one, an engineering firm in Austin is experiencing significant growth.

To accommodate growth in its business, HNTB Corp. is moving into 11,000 square feet at 301 Congress Ave. in downtown Austin. It's exiting 5,000 square feet at Southpark I in South Austin. Derek Silva and Alan Lacey of Austin's NAI Commercial Industrial Properties Co. represented HNTB in the deal.

The relocation is expected to be completed by mid-September.

"We're in a high-growth environment," says Nathan Stosberg, business manager in HNTB's Austin office. "We're experiencing double-digit growth year over year. It's very exciting."

The extra space HNTB is occupying will come in handy for the estimated 20 workers expected to be added in Austin through the end of 2006 in Austin, including civil engineers, roadway designers and environmentalists. The firm now has 58 employees in Austin.

"There's certainly a lot of competition for qualified highway engineers," Stosberg says.

"The talent pool is certainly deep, but there's a lot of civil engineering firms out there doing what we're doing and there's a lot of competition for their skills."

Two clients -- the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority -- have contributed substantially to HNTB's expansion.

Recently, HNTB secured work from the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, San Antonio's equivalent to the CTRMA in Austin. For the Austin and San Antonio mobility groups, HNTB is the general engineering consultant for their toll road projects.

For the Trans-Texas Corridor, HNTB is the lead consultant. Perry's plan for the Trans-Texas Corridor calls for $184 billion in toll roads, railways and utility lines across Texas. The first part of the corridor be an I-35 bypass.

HNTB isn't the only engineering firm benefiting from the boom in transportation projects in Texas.

Clif Davis, a principal in the Austin office of Fort Worth-based Carter and Burgess Inc., says that as more funding has opened up for transportation projects, demand for engineering firms -- and the talent to pull off those projects -- has risen.

For its part, Carter and Burgess has ramped up its management team to accommodate major transporatation projects, such as the toll roads.

"I think we'll continue to see the projects come, which means we'll need more engineering firms and more people," Davis says. "So I see the trend going up."

Kansas City, MO.-based HNTB has 60 U.S. offices with more than 2,900 employees.

Giselle Greenwood can be reached at (ggreenwood@bizjournals.com) | (512) 494-2529.


HNTB expands main Austin office

HNTB Corp. is moving its main Austin, Texas, office to a location with more than double the space to accommodate the office's increased work load and employee count, a company official said Monday.

Scott Smith, president of Kansas City-based HNTB Corp.'s central division, said the company's Austin office will move from about 5,000 square feet in south Austin to about 11,000 square feet in downtown Austin by Sept. 15. The company also has two project offices and a total of about 60 employees in the Austin area, Smith said.

The Texas Legislature passed a bill in 2003 creating the Trans-Texas Corridor highway project, for which HNTB is the general consultant, Smith said. The project calls for $184 billion in toll roads, railways and utility lines across Texas.

Two clients -- the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority -- have contributed substantially to HNTB's Texas expansion.

HNTB Corp. ranks No. 3 on the Kansas City Business Journal's list of area engineering firms and is part of HNTB Cos.

Austin Business Journal: www.bizjournals.com

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